ANSTO

PETNET construction go-ahead.

18 Aug 2008 2:55pm

The new facility promises to substantially increase the availability of the latest in disease diagnosis and treatment to Australians.

Last year the Federal Government announced a $10 million strategic partnership between ANSTO and global medical giant, Siemens Medical Solutions, to build the facility which will provide radiopharmaceuticals to revolutionary life-saving PET[1] facilities in New South Wales.

PET is a state-of-the-art nuclear medicine diagnostic technique which has produced significant advances in the diagnosis of cancer and other major medical conditions as it allows doctors to see disease at its earliest stage and precisely monitor treatment. It is the fastest growing medical diagnostic imaging technique in the world and its use has grown globally by 200 per cent in the last three years.

The deal also gives ANSTO access to Siemens? exclusive international PET radiopharmaceuticals network (PETNET) which consists of over 50 PETNET centres that enable hospitals to diagnose and treat patients and supporting institutions to undertake research into next generation radiopharmaceuticals.

The contract with Siemens will allow ANSTO to build twin cyclotrons at its site in Sydney?s south and produce the short-lived radiopharmaceutical FDG (fluorodeoxyglucose) used in PET scanning.

FDG has a half-life of 110 minutes meaning that it loses half of its activity every 110 minutes. This means this radiopharmaceutical cannot be imported. PET facilities use hospital-based cyclotrons or an outside supplier to produce FDG for a restricted number of patients. The new facility will make FDG available to the wider community.

Having two cyclotrons will allow the consistent and reliable supply of FDG to patients.

[1] Positron Emission Tomography. This is an nuclear medicine imaging machine where a patient is injected with a radioisotope which is detected by the special camera to see where disease is forming or how a drug is working in the body.

More instruments on-line

20 Jun 2008 3:49pm

Kowari and Koala join three other ANSTO instruments (Wombat, Echidna and Platypus) that have produced their first neutron scattering samples, making this five out of seven Bragg Institute instruments tested so far.

These instruments are designed to look at a variety of materials at the atomic level.

The patterns were taken to ensure the instruments are operating correctly as part of the first stages of calibration.

Dr Oliver Kirstein, Kowari Instrument Scientist, said he was happy with the initial experimental results.

"Kowari is designed to look at stresses in materials, such as welds in engines, so we scanned a steel weld for which we already know the scattering results to ensure the instrument is working as expected by comparing results," he said.

"The next stage is to characterise the instrument and ensure it operates in the way we expect before we can invite other scientists to use the instrument. It will be a step by step process."

As with Kowari, Dr Ross Piltz, Koala Instrument Scientist, said his instrument needed similar tests.

"Our first scatter was done on a salt crystal, which was the same material used by William and Lawrence Bragg in their first x-ray diffraction experiments almost a century ago," he said.

"We are happy to see that something is happening and that scanning seems to working but there is still some fine tuning to do before we are ready to invite other scientists."

The next stages for both instruments will be to undertake further tests against known materials to ensure the outcomes are as expected and boundaries can be set to ensure reliability of results. Once this has been achieved ANSTO will need to apply for operating licences for the instruments from its regulator ARPANSA. Once an operating licence has been approved peer reviewed experiments will take place to allow ANSTO to notify the potential scientific users of the instruments' capabilities.

In business

23 May 2008 3:56pm

ANSTO's OPAL research reactor has returned to full operating power, following its shut down last July when partial displacement of some fuel plates was discovered during a routine fuel change.

After that event, a full investigation was undertaken, resulting in a new fuel assembly design. The process has been painstaking but necessary, and on 1 May the nuclear safety regulator ARPANSA approved the new design and subsequently returning to power.

"Going back to full power is a key step towards OPAL getting back to business and importantly producing life-saving radiopharmaceuticals for the half a million Australians who use our nuclear medicine each year," said Dr Ron Cameron, ANSTO's Acting Chief Executive Officer.

"In addition, we can also resume producing neutron beams for cutting edge research into the structure and chemistry of a variety of materials used in everyday life, as well as irradiating silicon ingots for the electronics industry.

"However it is good to once again see the water in OPAL's 13 metre-deep pool, where the reactor sits, emitting the distinctive blue glow of Cerenkov radiation," said Dr Cameron.

OPAL replaced Australia's first nuclear research reactor, HIFAR (High Flux Australian Reactor) which shut down at the beginning of 2007 after almost 50 years of service.

OPAL is designed to provide Australia, and countries in our region, with important nuclear medicine needs for the next 40 years.

OPAL reactor restarts

13 May 2008 11:46am

Low power testing with a full reactor core of 16 fuel elements, has commenced at the OPAL nuclear reactor at Lucas Heights, operated by ANSTO. This is the first vital step in bringing the reactor back to full operation after being shut down since last July following the partial displacement of some fuel plates.

Prior to the shutdown, OPAL had successfully operated for a year during its commissioning process. After the shutdown, investigations indicated the problem was caused by a combination of factors, including inadequate design and fuel manufacturing techniques. Consequently, changes to the fuel design to avoid future plate movements were made. These were approved by the independent nuclear safety regulator, ARPANSA on 1 May

ANSTO's Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ian Smith said he was delighted that this first step back to full power had been successful.

"This is the first stage in getting the reactor fully functional again, although it?s a slow process. It's not just a case of flicking a switch.

"A special start-up core which consists of new fuel assemblies manufactured to the modified design and a neutron-emitting source was needed to restart the reactor. Now the power will be gradually increased," he said.

ANSTO will conduct a series of tests to ensure everything is functioning properly with the new fuel and all the reactor systems before slowly taking OPAL to full power.

It has taken a number of months to reach this stage. This was because modifications to the fuel had to be designed and approved. Following an investigation process which beganlast July, ANSTO lodged an application to modify the fuel design with the nuclear safety regulator ARPANSA in December. During the assessment period since then ANSTO responded to requests for further information.

There have not been any abnormal safety or radiation issues. ANSTO has kept the community and customers regularly updated on progress during the shutdown, and will continue to do so during the re-start period.